Category Archives: Fashions

A Century of Fashions in My Family, 1840s-1940s: Gents’ Turn

Yesterday, it was the ladies in my family tree who had a chance to show off their very fashionable clothing and hair styles.

Today, it’s the turn of the gentlemen. Here they are:


My 5X Great Grandfather, Thomas Adams
1783-1859
Photo taken in the late 1840s


My 2X Great Grandfather, William Coleman
1833-1904
Photo taken late 1850s


My 2X Great Grandfather, Calvin Segee Adams
1843-1921
Photo taken about 1870


Lowell R. Adams, brother of Calvin Adams
1861-1954
Photo taken late 1880s


My 3X Great Grandfather, Daniel Adams
1810-1893
Photo taken about 1890


My Great Grandfather, Hartwell Thomas Coleman
1869-1938
Photo taken about 1900


My Great Grandfather, Charles Edwin Adams
1877-1921
Photo taken in the 1910s


My Dad, George Michael Sabo
1926-1989
Photo taken in 1944

I love to see how fashions changed through the decades, both for women and men, although men’s styles don’t have the same distinctive differences seen in the ladies’ dresses.

Do you have fashion forward ancestors in your family tree?

A Century of Fashions in My Family, 1840s-1940s: The Ladies

I have quite a few photos of ancestors, collateral lines and some suspected friends and the pictures date from about the late 1840s on.

I’ve been thinking about quilting lately, another hobby but which has been pushed aside for genealogy and that got me on the idea of fashions through the centuries. How’d that happen – I guess the link to my thoughts was fabric!

Here are my female ancestors dressed to the 9s for their era. 🙂


My 4X Great Grandmother, Sarah Brawn Adams
1786-after 1815

Photo taken late 1840s


My 2X Great Grandmother, Sarah Moriah (Crouse) Coleman
1833-1930
Photo taken in early 1850s


My 3X Great Grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Scripture) Tarbox
1827-1866
Civil War Era Photo


Martha Lulu Adams, 1/2 sister of my great grandfather,
Charles Edwin Adams
1870-1918
Photo taken in the 1870s


My 2X Great Grandmother, Nellie Tarbox Adams, 1856-1927
fifth from left in back row, just left of the pillar

Photo taken in the 1890s


My Great Grandmother, Annie Maude (Stuart) Adams
1874-1940
Photo taken around 1920

This is one of my favorites of my grandmother. Flapper era all the way!


My Grandmother, Julia (Scerbak) Sabo & Dad
1893-1985
Photo taken about 1931


My Mom, Doris Priscilla (Adams) Sabo, right, with friend
1923-12008
Photo taken during U.S. Navy WAVE Service, WWII